Wearable smart devices, more commonly known as wearables, have earned a steady following among consumers over the last ten years. Smartwatches like the Apple Watch are likely the best-known wearables, but many other kinds of wearables have emerged, and continue to emerge today. Wearables that are available on the market range from head-mounted displays (HMDs) to clothing and jewelry.
These devices not only perform many basic computing functions, akin to laptops and smartphones, but can also perform unique health-tracking services (such as calorie tracking and sleep monitoring) as a result of being in contact with the user’s body.
Enterprises may see wearables appearing more and more often in their workplaces in the near future, and, therefore, need to consider whether they might be able to leverage these technologies to create a more productive and connected workplace.
1) Smartwatches
Smartwatches are likely the most commonly-known and most commonly-used wearables in the workplace today. Connecting a smartwatch to a smartphone enables the wearer to read and send new messages from their watch, eliminating the need to hold and view one’s phone.
Smartwatch designers are finding new ways to innovate: starting from its Series 4 product line, Apple’s Apple Watch enables users to obtain an electrocardiogram heart reading without any additional accessories, while the Matrix PowerWatch Series 2 can charge from solar power and body heat in place of electricity.
2) Smart Jewellery
Smart jewelry is the logical conclusion of ongoing research into how to include health-tracking capabilities in smaller wearables. The most prominent kind of smart jewelry (as of 2020) might be the smart ring. Exemplified by brands such are Oura, smart rings are worn on the finger like standard rings, all the while obtaining health-tracking data that the user can later review on a smartphone. Many other unique iterations of smart jewelry exist, from bangles to bracelets, with some designs even created by well-known fashion firms. In the near future, the Joule will expand the range of potential smart jewelry; a smart health-tracking device that doubles as an earring backing, Joule effectively allows any earring to become a smart device.
3) Fitness Trackers
The modern successor to pedometers, fitness trackers monitor steps taken, heart rate, calories burned, and a range of other fitness metrics. The distinction between fitness tracking devices and smartwatches has become very small; fitness-oriented products (such as FitBit’s line of fitness trackers) now include smartwatch features like phone notification alerts, and smartwatches include an array of fitness tracking options and capabilities. Fitness trackers tend to be cheaper, however, as they have comparatively fewer features, and focus on functionality, rather than aesthetic appeal.
4) Smart Clothing
By making contact with a larger amount of one’s body, smart clothing can provide deeper insights than smaller wearables can, enabling advanced tracking for both medical care and lifestyle improvement. Samsung conducts extensive research in this sector, and has filed a number of promising patents; if these patents become commercially-available products, Samsung may soon release smart shirts capable of diagnosing respiratory diseases and smart shoes that monitor running form.
Consumers can already purchase Siren Socks (smart socks that can detect developing foot ulcers), Nadi X smart pants by Wearable X (yoga pants that vibrate to improve form during yoga exercises), and Naviano smart swimsuits that provide alerts when the user should apply sunscreen, among many other kinds of smart clothing.
Enterprises have also begun to use smart clothing as a way to generate brand loyalty. Tommy Hilfiger, for instance, experimented with adding location-tracking functionality to its Tommy Jeans Xplore line of clothing. This enabled the clothing to track how frequently the customer wore it, so Tommy Hilfiger could reward frequent wearers with more Tommy Hilfiger products. Although some consumers might be concerned about the security risks of having an enterprise know exactly where they are and maybe a cause for privacy concerns, there will still be an increasing use of wearable technology in the future.
5) Implantables
Implantables make contact with the user’s body from the inside, rather than on the skin. For instance, the company Proteus produces sensor-containing pills that can monitor blood pressure and other health metrics; after the patient swallows the pills, they can wear an external device to easily monitor the data generated from within the body. In the near future, smart tattoos may also become available for patients who want an easy way of ensuring that they always remember to bring their monitoring devices with them.
6) Head-Mounted Displays
As the name suggests, head-mounted displays (HMDs) go on the head and provide a display in the user’s field of view, such that the user can use the device without needing to look down at a phone or smartwatch display. HMDs can provide one of several kinds of experiences for users: HMDs can function as monitors, provide information superimposed over reality via augmented reality (AR), or completely immerse the user in a virtual reality (VR) setting.
As a start, useful HMD devices exist separately from AR and VR HMDs. As an example, Vufine produces smart glasses that allow users to view the video output of devices like drones in real-time.
AR HMD devices allow users to simultaneously interact with digital information and the real-life environment that surrounds them. Indeed, the digital information being displayed can interact with the environment. Simple uses of this technology have already proved to be popular with consumers in smartphone applications such as Pokémon Go.
Some of the most promising AR HMD projects include Magic Leap’s Magic Leap One and Microsoft’s HoloLens 2, which both have a range of potential applications in enterprise and consumer contexts. Although both devices are currently oriented towards developers and cost several thousand dollars per unit, AR glasses from companies such as Vuzix are already available for consumers at a lower price point.
Finally, VR HMD devices fully immerse the viewer in a virtual world. Once associated with bulky headsets and computer rigs, VR devices are now commercially available in lightweight HMD designs. Google Cardboard and similar products like Samsung’s Gear VR leverage users’ phones to provide VR, for example, while other devices such as the Oculus Go are dedicated HMDs with all the necessary components built into the devices themselves.
Food for Thought:
Which of these high-technology wearable smart devices will you be willing to use for a better awareness of your health?
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